Next Wednesday
by SouffleGirlAfterAll
Summary: "I realised something," Clara says finally. "When I left just now... I – I realised that, well-" - When the Doctor takes Clara back home after another Wednesday, they both realise that maybe it's not what either of them want after all. One of them just needs to say it. 11/Clara fluff, Nightmare in Silver spoilers.


A/N - More of an offload of immense feels than anything :') After NiS I was in a bit of a state of emotional instability (OH GOD THAT ENDING) and then this kind of happened. I've been editing and prodding at it for like two weeks though, and finally plucked up the courage to post it xD What I believe should have happened directly after the last scene of the episode, when the Doctor drops Clara and the kids back home. I really hope you like it :)

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Next Wednesday

The Doctor hates the silence that falls when Clara's not around. She's got this incredible ability to just light up any room, with her bright brown eyes and incessant chatter, and maybe he always teases her about it but truthfully, sometimes he thinks that it's all that keeps him going. The way she bosses him about and is stubborn as a mule, the fact she's so short and that her face is so bloody perfect and that she'd never trust anyone more that she does the Doctor – _everything _about her just enthrals the Doctor, and he can't even place why.

Even though Clara can't have left the TARDIS more than five minutes ago, and even though he can jump forward a week and pick her up in minutes, he still misses her. course though, Clara has a life of her own on Earth – as Amy and Rory did, he remembers with a pang of guilt – and so every week after he whisks her away for what he hopes could be forever, he has to drop her back home. He knows it's selfish to expect Clara to give up her family and friends and her whole life to travel with him, but it doesn't make seeing her go any easier. He wishes she was here now, so that he could just forget about everything else and tell her all those things that he wishes he could. But he can't, because then he risks ruining everything; losing her. And the Doctor can't even begin to imagine that.

Pushing that thought away, he reaches for the lever to gear the TARDIS into flight mode. Before he can though, the Doctor's head snaps up as a small knock echoes around the Control Room. He's smiling to himself as he bounds over to the door, because he knows there's only one person it could be; only one person he _wants_ it to be. He hesitates though, one hand on the latch, about to open the door. He can't get his hopes up. _She's probably just forgotten her coat or something, idiot. _There's another little knock, and the Doctor blinks, realising he's just stood there scolding himself like a madman while Clara stands out in the cold.

"Doctor?" He hears her sweet, muffled voice from outside.

"Just-" he clears his throat awkwardly, "-just a second!"

"Quick as you like," Clara replies, "it's not half miserable out here!"

After not being able to resist a quick fix of his bow-tie, and hoping he has suppressed the excitable grin that has spread across his face, the Doctor finally opens the door. There she stands, her hair and clothes slightly dampened by the pitiful drizzle that's begun outside, arms folded, big brown eyes staring up expectantly. And God_, _she looks beautiful. (_Stop it, _Doctor). When Clara sees him though, the amused expression quickly fades, and she blushes.

"Do you need something?" the Doctor asks brightly, standing aside and letting Clara back into the warm Control Room before closing the door again. "Are Artie and Angie okay?"

She doesn't answer at first, just drops her gaze to her shoes and scuffs the toe of her boot against the floor. The Doctor immediately senses her embarrassment and his eyes widen. If this is a girl problem, the Doctor's done for. Clara's a complicated enough girl as it is, so he prays she's not about to offload any heavy dilemmas onto him that he's supposed to awkwardly work out how to react to. The Doctor is suddenly very aware of his hearts beating a mile a minute and he wonders if she can hear, too. Does she know what she does to him? Does Clara know that she's the impossible girl that has him so completely entranced by everything she does? The Doctor doesn't know how much the Cyber-Planner told Clara after it devoured his every thought about her.

"I..." Clara trails off, finally looking up to meet the Doctor's gaze. Those brown eyes; the Doctor has never tired of getting lost in them, and doubts he ever will. He could never get bored of a single thing about Clara Oswald.

"I realised something," she says finally. "When I left just now... I – I realised that, well-"

The Doctor searches her face, confused. When she finally elaborates, he hears the last thing he expected.

A small, shy smile flickers across Clara's face. "I don't want to wait until Wednesday. Not last Wednesday, not next Wednesday, not _any _Wednesday. I want every Wednesday and every day in between with you, Doctor."

The Doctor's hearts are thudding now as realisation floods through him, warm and tingling. Canhe bring himself to believe that just maybe she feels the same way? Clara's grinning now and so is he, the broad, genuine kind of smile that only she seems to be able to coax out of him. Because right now, there's no person he'd rather spend the rest of his life with. There's barely any space between them as they stand there, still in the doorway, neither really knowing what to say. He just wants to scream that no, she's not too short and no, her nose isn't all weird like he said and he only said so because he was afraid. Afraid of how she would feel if she knew. Everything is there on the tip of his tongue, and the Doctor's been holding it all in for so long but now it's all real and happening and he's at loss.

"That's a lot of Wednesdays," the Doctor murmurs eventually. It's a completely inadequate and quite frankly rubbish response to such a statement from Clara, but somehow his brain's just turned to fluff and they're still just looking at each other and God she's so close-

Then Clara steps forward and before the Doctor can even react she reaches up onto her toes and touches a small, chaste kiss to his lips. The Doctor's eyes squeeze shut as she brushes against him, but only a moment later Clara's pulling away, cheeks burning like she's broken out of a trance and is suddenly regretting everything she's said and done.

"Sorry," she says quickly. "I shouldn't ha-"

Clara never finishes her sentence because the Doctor finally knows what he needs to say, but it's not with words that he says it. He takes her beautiful face in his hands and leans down slightly, their lips meeting once more but this time less tentative. Clara stiffens at first, as if surprised that the Doctor is actually reciprocating (and enthusiastically at that) but then she relaxes, her hands finding their way to his shoulders, pulling them closer together. She kisses every bit as wonderfully as the Doctor imagined, and although he himself has always been so terribly awkward at this (probably because the kissing never seems to be on his terms), kissing Clara comes as naturally as breathing. Their mouths move against each other, growing more intense with every moment that they stay pressed together. The Doctor's fingers wind ever so gently through her damp ponytail, and he holds Clara like she'd the most fragile thing in the cosmos. _His Impossible Girl._

It seems like forever that they stay like that, leaning against the TARDIS door and giving in to every feeling they've kept from each other for so long, but Clara finally pulls away slightly, staying close enough that their noses are still touching. They're both breathing heavily, and the Doctor figures Clara is just as surprised by her actions as he is. He _definitely_ liked it though. Yes, kissing Clara Oswald is very nice indeed.

"Bet you're glad I didn't take Porridge up on his proposal," she whispers, her breath tickling the Doctor's mouth. "I reckon I would've made a pretty good Empress, don't you?"

He smiles, as warmly and genuinely as before, because for all her bossiness and stubbornness and shortness, he loves Clara Oswald so, so much. And he'll tell her so, but maybe later, because she's already pulling him closer to kiss him all over again.


End file.
